UCLA is in the mid-teens in the national rankings - No. 15 in AP's, No. 16 in USA Today and No. 17 on the BCS list - but No. 1 in one key category: penalties.

The Bruins have committed 104 penalties for 1,104 yards, which is a per-game average of 9.5 for 92.2 yards, substantially more than pretty much everybody else - and well ahead of Air Force, which sits at the other end of the list, averaging 3.3 for 25.7 yards.

Doesn't bother head coach Jim Mora in the least.

"I'll tell you an interesting statistic about penalties," Mora told media after Thursday morning practice at Spaulding Field. "This is a 20-year study I did on penalties: The correlation between penalties and winning games is nonexistent. And that is a fact. Over the last 20 years in football. Penalties, in general, don't matter.

"Now, it would be naive to say certain penalties don't matter, because certain penalties certainly do matter. I like the fact that our team plays aggressive. Some of those penalties are aggressive penalties, some of those penalties are penalties and some of them aren't - and I think every team can say that - but it's not something that I'm overly concerned with right now."

He's not sure on the whys and what-fors, but admits it "was surprising to me. I thought there'd be more of a correlation, there's not. The two most important critical variables to win football games are turnovers and explosive plays - the turnover differential and explosive-play differential. The least important is penalties. I was happy to hear that."

What about UCLA's D?

The Bruins take on No. 11 Stanford on Saturday afternoon at the Rose Bowl, and there's been plenty of attention directed this week to the Cardinal defense, especially after it held Oregon to its lowest point total in two years in last weekend's 17-14 overtime upset.

"Oh, man. Everything," Mora said. "You can see they're a smart team, filled with smart players. They play very disciplined and they play consistently disciplined. By that, I don't mean penalties. I mean they're in the proper gap. They play with the proper leverage.

"They keep their shoulders square. They stay on their feet. They run to the ball. They tackle well. They've got some scheme things they do in terms of pressure that are unique, but I think it goes back to the way they execute the fundamentals. That's what I believe. And good players executing the fundamentals."

Are observers overlooking UCLA's defense?

"All I've heard this week is their offense and their run game, their defense, our offense, our special teams," he said. "So if there's two units that haven't really been talked about this week, it's our defense and their special teams. So those will probably be the two units that make the most impact. Who knows? You know how that stuff goes."

It just won't be penalties making the biggest impact, right?

"Depends," he said, laughing, "on when the penalty occurs and what it is."

Thanksgiving football

Mora's Thanksgiving plans involved, of course, football.

Watching it. For pleasure.

"I'm actually kind of anxious to just go watch some football," he said. "I know it sounds really nuts, but I haven't really watched much football, like on TV. Game. Fan. Not breaking it down, not looking for tendencies or anything like that. And it's always fun for me to watch football with my dad and my sons. Especially my dad. Just get his perspective."

He coached the Atlanta Falcons in a Thanksgiving Day victory over the Detroit Lions in 2005, and that was a kick, he said.

"It was totally different. And it was exciting, because you'd watched it growing up your whole life," Mora said. "And it was fun because we won. It was difficult being away from your family. But the team kind of becomes your family. ...

"Got to see Mariah Carey. She was the halftime show, and her locker room was right next to (ours). The funny thing was herding the guys in at halftime; they all wanted to go in and see her. I'm like, 'No, no, no, no, no. Our locker room. Our locker room.' But she was very nice."

A real Turkey?

UCLA closed practice Thursday with what Mora called "the first annual non-travel squad Turkey Bowl," and he said it ended in a tie after "about five series." The game ball, as it were, went to freshman offensive tackle Conor McDermott, who was converted to tight end for the 20-minute scrimmage.

McDermott, who stands 6-foot-8, 247 pounds, played tight end at Ensworth High School in Nashville, Tenn.